Upstart startup Hometalk goes after online home improvement niche with a vengance

Boasting around 100,000 active users, Hometalk wants to be the go-to site for home improvement. TechCrunch’s John Biggs spoke to Hometalk VP Matthew Shampine:

“The idea was to help bring about transparency to everything related to the home by creating a community of homeowners and professionals that were connected by more than just a username online. At Hometalk people are able to see how others work, how they think and celebrate what they’ve created. Afterwards they can use this information to guide their future projects and get better results when they choose a professional to work with,” said Shampine.

He noted that many of the spots for home improvement talk are old and weird. There is plenty of Google juice around sites like This Old House and various other building sites but nothing has been optimized with the modern homeowner in mind. Shampine noted that the audience skews a little older and outside of big cities, which makes perfect sense as they have a bit more time, bigger houses, and a need to install cast-iron fairies in herb gardens. This intensity and focus allows for deep and rich conversations about home ownership and could, in the end, prevent me from flooding the basement again by telling me, contrary to the voices in my head, to not flush all of my used aluminum foil.

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Published by Brian L. Hill

As Director of Consulting Services for Xpera Group, Brian L. Hill connects clients to the diverse range of experts, technical specialists, tools and other resources that the firm has to offer in order to solve complex building performance issues. He is also the editor and publisher of AECforensics.com, which dissects the latest news and information impacting quality and risk management in the built environment.
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